Case 2: Royal Connections
Archbishop William Laud, arguably St John’s most (in)famous alumnus and former president, had the Canterbury Quad with today’s Laudian Library built at the height of his career in the 1630s. When the building was formally opened, King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria attended a lavish feast at the College, including a banquet in Laud’s new library.
Over the years, several books with royal provenances have found their way to St John’s College. These include a French astronomical manuscript produced for Charles V of France (MS 164), a Greek manuscript previously in the royal library of El Escorial in Spain (MS 41), James I’s copy of The Book of Common Prayer (A.2.3), and a lavishly decorated Latin Book of Hours that is said to have been Queen Mary of Modena’s (A.2.11)
